The Indiana Pacers entered 2025-26 as defending Eastern Conference champions, but the season has been a total write-off, and their eyes are now firmly fixed on June.
Pacers Can Draft Top-Level Prospect in AJ Dybantsa To Help Tyrese Haliburton
At 15-50, Indiana sits at the very bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, and for good reason. The Pacers have been without Tyrese Haliburton all season after he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
That injury, combined with absences from Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, Ben Sheppard, and others throughout the year, turned what was a conference finals-caliber roster into one of the worst teams in the league. The silver lining, though, is a legitimate shot at selecting one of the best draft prospects to come along in years.
PFSN analyst Andrew Melnick made the case for exactly who Indiana should target with that pick.
Writing about BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, Melnick stated: “AJ Dybantsa offers impressive size at 6’9 with a 6’11 wingspan, making him a strong two-way pro prospect. While his perimeter shooting needs work, he can still improve. He attacks the rim well using size and speed. If Peterson goes first, the Indiana Pacers’ choice is clear, and pairing Dybantsa with Tyrese Haliburton could elevate the team.”
The scouting report tracks with what Dybantsa has put on display this season. The Brockton, Massachusetts, native has led the nation in scoring as a freshman, putting up 25.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game for BYU while shooting 52.0 percent from the field.
The three-point shooting concern Melnick flagged is real. Dybantsa is converting just 33.8 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc, a figure that could raise questions about his long-term role at the NBA level. But at 19 years old and 6’9 with a 6’11 wingspan, the physical tools are there to develop into something special.
His ability to attack downhill, score through contact, and initiate offense from the perimeter already resembles a prototype modern wing, and the shooting can come with time and repetition. The rest of his profile demands serious attention.
What makes the Pacers’ situation particularly compelling is who is waiting for Dybantsa when he arrives. Haliburton is expected to return fully healthy for the 2026-27 season, and at just 26 years old, he is entering what should be the prime years of his career as one of the NBA’s premier playmakers.
The combination of a Haliburton-caliber facilitator with a physical, versatile wing like Dybantsa is the kind of pairing that franchises spend years trying to assemble. Indiana would not need to build from scratch. The infrastructure is already there, and Dybantsa would walk into a situation where every strength of his game is accentuated by an elite passer.
The Pacers hold a 14% chance at the No. 1 overall pick under the NBA’s flattened lottery system, tied with Sacramento and other teams near the bottom of the standings. If Indiana wins the lottery, the decision becomes more complicated, given that Darryn Peterson is widely considered the top overall prospect and could go first.
But as Melnick noted, if Peterson goes No. 1, Dybantsa becomes the obvious choice. Even in a scenario where Indiana slips to the second or third pick, this draft class is deep enough at the top that the Pacers would still come away with a franchise-altering talent.
